Process for reducing the arsenic content of gaseous hydrocarbon streams by use of supported copper or copper oxide

ABSTRACT

A process for reducing the arsenic content of a gaseous hydrocarbon stream by contacting the stream with a sorbent comprising copper or an oxide of copper dispersed upon a supporting material.

PROCESS FOR REDUCING THE ARSENIC CONTENT OF GASEOUS HYDRQCARBON STREAMS BY USE OF SUPPORTED COPPER 0R COPPER OXIDE Inventors: Franklin E. Massoth; John E.

Young, Jr., both of Middlesex Twp., Butler County, Pa.

Assignee: Gulf Research & Development Company, Pittsburgh, Pa.

Filed: Apr. 27, 1972 Appl. No.: 247,984

[ 1 May 28, 1974 [56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,779,715 1/1957 Murray et a1. 208/88 2,781,297 2/1957 Appell 3,501,897 3/1970 Van Helden et a1 55/73 Primary Examiner-Charles N. Hart [57] ABSTRACT A process for reducing the arsenic content of a gaseous hydrocarbon stream by contacting the stream with a sorbent comprising copper or an oxide of copper dispersed upon a supporting material.

us. c|.....[. 55/68, 55/74 Int. Cl B0ld 53/04 17 i 1 D i Fi re Field of Search 55/48, 73, 74, 179, 387, 55/68; 196/44, 46; 208/88, 91; 423/210, 229, 234, 240

I2 Hydro en 2 q Absorber Pyrolysis Acetylene 40 Section Furnace 2o Converter -L+ Dlstlllation Ethylene L Zone Arsenic \52 8 Removal -22 Drying R v r Fluld 16 em a y 1 n3 Etc. 23 42 Catalytic S ystem Cracker Gosoline 26 Heavier 4 30 Products PROCESS FOR REDUCING CONTENT OF- GASEOUS HYDROC This invention relates to the removal of arsenic from gaseous streams and more particularly to a process for reducing the arsenic content of a gaseous hydrocarbon stream by the use of copper or copper oxide.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Catalytic cracking is one of the principal methods for refining petroleum fractions to recover more valuable hydrocarbon products such as gasoline. The unit in which the cracking operation takes place generally employs a fluidized bed and thus is termed a fluid catalytic cracking (FCC) unit. A variety of lower boiling products in gaseous form are discharged from the FCC unit and these are usually further treated to recover separate hydrocarbon fractions, e.g. ethylene. This further treatment of FCC vapors may, as in the case of the hydrogenation of acetylene, involve the use of a noble metal catalyst. As is well known, noble metal catalysts are rapidly deactivated by feedstock impurities such as arsenic. It thus becomes desirable to reduce the arsenic content of the FCC gases to the lowest possible level before subjecting them to further treatment.

It should be noted that the exact form in which arsenic is present in FCC gases is difficult to determine. It is known, however, that FCC gases in which arsenic can be detected cause the aforesaid deleterious effects upon a noble metal catalyst. Although it is believed that a major portion of the arsenic contained in the gases is present as arsine (AsH the term arsenic as used herein is intended to include arsenic in any combined gaseous form.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PRIOR ART It is well known that arsenic in gaseous form is a highly toxic substance. Workers in the gas mask art have suggested the use of activated charcoal impregnated with a metal or metal oxide such as copper or copper oxide as a material through which air (or other oxygen-containing gases) may be passed for the removal of arsenic. Exemplary of these proposals are US. Pat. Nos. 1,520,437; 2,511,288 and 2,513,508.

rendered more soluble in water; the arsenic-containing hydrocarbon (gasoline or naphtha in all working examples) is thentreated with water to'dissolve (and remove) the oxidized arsenic compound. It would thus appear that copper oxide cannot be employed to directly remove arsenic from a liquid hydrocarbon stream.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It has now been discovered that a suitably dispersed material comprising copper, an oxide of copper or mixtures thereof will directly remove arsenic from gaseous hydrocarbon streams. For the purposes of this application, the copper-containing material will be termed a sorbent, although that term is not intended to suggest that the arsenic removal is accomplished by physical adsorption. While not wishing to be bound by any It has been found more recently that the presence of v arsenic in gasolines which are treated by contact with a noble metal containing catalyst causes a permanent deactivation of the catalyst. Suggestions have been made in the art to pretreat petroleum fractions to remove arsenic by use of a wide range of materials such as a lignite-based activated carbon (U.S. Pat. No. 3,542,669); silica gel impregnated with the sulfuric acid (U.S. Pat. No. 3,093,574); aluminum silicate (U.S. Pat. No. 2,939,833); or a salt ofa metal not higher than copper in the electromotive series of metals (U.S. Pat. No. 2,781,297). U.S. Pat. No. 2,781,297 includesthe teaching (Example XII) that the oxide of the metal (specifically copper oxide) is unsatisfactory for removing arsenic from the liquid gasoline type petroleum fractions there involved. This teaching appears to be reinforced by US. Pat. No. 2,778,779, entitled Removal of Arsenic in Hydrocarbon Oils by Use of a Readily Reducible Metal Oxide and Water," which teaches that arsenic, when passed over an oxide of certain metals including copper, is oxidized and thereby particular theory, it is believed that some chemical reaction is involved between the arsenic and the sorbent wherein copper arsenide compounds such as cuprous arsenide (Cu As) are formed. At a minimum, it is believed that the removal of arsenic is accomplished by chemisorption; that is, the arsenic forms bonds with the surface atoms of the sorbent that are of comparable strength with ordinary chemical bonds and stronger than the bonds formed in physical adsorption.

Particularly surprising is the fact the dispersed sorbent will withstand an acceptable loading of arsenic before breakthrough even when the arsenic is present in a gaseous light hydrocarbon stream containing both olefins and water vapor. While mamy materials will function to remove arsenic from admixture with inert gases such as argon and such materials remain active for reasonable loadings of arsenic, most of these materials fail quickly in the removal of arsenic from light hydrocarbon gases such as the gases obtained from FCC units. In this context, the term breakthrough means the passage of arsenic beyond or downstream of the substance intended to remove it and is usually expressed as a percentage of the arsenic not removed in relation to the arsenic content of the charge stock.

The present invention provides a process for reducing the arsenic content of a gaseous hydrocarbon feedstream which comprises contacting said feedstream with a sorbent dispersed upon a supporting material, said sorbent comprising copper or an oxide of copper and having an oxygen uptake value, to be defined later, of at least 5 and more preferably at least 40.

The expression oxygen uptake value is a measure of the degree of dispersion of the sorbent on its support, expressed as milliliters of oxygen per gram of copper. The procedures for determining this value for a particular sorbent are detailed hereinbelow.

' The invention further provides that the supporting material is preferably selected from the group consisting of high surface area refractory metal oxides or mixtures of such refractorymetal oxides, although preferably the supporting material is a high surface area alumina. It is further provided that the hydrocarbons in the feedstream have from one to five carbon atoms per molecule with minor amounts of about two percent or less of higher carbon atoms molecules such as C Preferably, the hydrocarbons in the feedstream have from one to three carbon atoms with minor amounts of about ten percent or less of hydrocarbons having from four to six carbon atoms. The feedstream normally includes olefins and water vapor. Preferably, the feedstream is substantially free of sulfur compounds and acetylenes. The arsenic content of the feedstream is generally in excess of 20 ppb and following contact with the sorbent the arsenic content of the feedstream is reduced to less than 20 ppb, preferably less than l ppb and more preferably less than 2 ppb. In this application the term ppb means parts per billion and ppm means parts per million, and such parts are parts by volume unless otherwise indicated. Preferably, the present invention provides that the feedstream is contacted with the sorbent at a temperature in the range of 50 to 400F. and more preferably in the range of 80 to 250F.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The charge stock for treatment in accordance with the invention is a gaseous hydrocarbon feedstream wherein the hydrocarbons preferably have from one to five carbon atoms per molecule and which feedstream contains arsenic as an inpurity, typically in an amount from about 20 ppb to about 20 ppm or more. Particularly preferred for treatment by the process of the invention are those light hydrocarbon gases obtained by the catalytic cracking of heavier petroleum hydrocarbons such as gas oils for producing primarily gasoline. These light gases from the FCC unit have been found to contain small concentrations of arsenic even though arsine, for example, is known to decompose at about 450F. and the temperatures in the FCC unit are known to reach over 900F. There is probably insufficient contact time in an FCC unit to decompose the arsine,

or perhaps the arsine decomposes and reforms on coo.-

ling.

Preferably, the charge stock is free of sulfur compounds such as H 8 since sulfur compounds appear to seriously interfere with the removal ofarsines from gaseous hydrocarbon charge stocks. That is, the process of the invention will operate in the presence of sulfur compounds, but the loading of the supported copper oxide before breakthrough will be seriously impaired.

acetylides which in their dry state are explosive.

The process of the invention will now be further de scribed by reference to the attached FIGURE.

Referring to the FIGURE, the petroleum charge for catalytic cracking enters through line 2 into FCC unit 4 where it is converted under usual catalytic cracking conditions to a variety of lower boiling products,"in-

cluding gasoline type products. Gasoline is removed from FCC unit 4 through line 6. The other gaseous products of the cracking process, which products are of primary concern here, are removed from FCC unit 4 through line 8 and enter an absorber section 10. Ab-

' sorber section 10 normally consists of several component units (not shown) such as an amine absorber, a knock-outdrum to remove any entrained liquids from the gaseous products, and a heater to insure that the main'in the vapor phas The FCC gases exiting.

removal unit 14.-

from the heater unit of absorber section 10 have the typical composition shown in the following Table I:

TABLE 1 Component Vol. Nitrogen 9.5 Hydrogen 9.8 Methane 29.7 Ethylene 9.7 Ethane 12.6 Propylene 15.5 Propane 6.8 Butenes 0.5 Butanes l.9 Pentenes 0.4 Pentanes 0.5 Hexanes 0.] Carbon Monoxide 2.9

The FCC absorber gases are usually at a temperature from 80 to 150F., more usually from 100 to 125F.,

and at a pressure from 250 to 400 psig, more usually at a pressure from 290 to 360 psig. The increased pressures are those normally employed in the FCC unit and are used to propel the gases through the various units in the recovery train. The absorber gases leave the absorber section 10 through line 12 and pass into arsenic The function of arsenic removal unit 14 is to reduce the concentration of arsenic in the FCC absorber gases from a concentration in excess of 20 ppb to a concentration at the outlet of less than 20 ppb. The concentration of arsenic in the FCC absorber gases is usually on the order of 50 to 750 ppb but can be as high as 20 ppm or more. Preferably, the arsenic content of the gases is lowered to less than 10 ppb and more preferably to less than 20 ppb by arsenic removal unit 14.

The type of solid material employed in arsenic removal ,unit 14 is an important feature of the invention and will be discussed in detail hereinbelow. Suffice it to say here that the material comprises copper or an oxide of copper well dispersed upon a suitable support, preferably one having a high surface area.

The temperatures to be employed in arsenic removal unit 14 can suitably be from 50 to 400F., are usually from to 250F., and are preferably from to 200F. Temperatures below 50F. are undesirable because of increased cost and the decreased activity of the sorbent at those levels. Temperatures above the stated range are undesirable due to the increased expense of operating the process. Primarily excessive temperatures are undesirable for the further reason that when feedstreams contain both olefins and hydrogen, as do FCC absorber gases, hydrogenation of the olefins is promoted by high temperature levels. At 250F., however, it has been found that less than one percent hydrogenation of propylene is experienced in the treatment of a typical FCC absorber gas to remove arsenic in accordancewith the present invention.

The pressure to be employed in arsenic removal unit 14 is suitably atmospheric pressure or below to 1000 psig or'more. FCC unitstypically operate to produce product gases, as noted above,.at pressures from about 250 to 350-psig. The process of the present invention operates well at atmospheric pressure, but since it is expensive to depressure the FCC- absorber gases and repressure the final products for transport through pipelines, it is desirable to operate the arsenic removal process at increased pressures of, say, 250 to 350 psig. A limitation on the maximum operating pressure is, however,-the effect of pressure on promoting undesirable side reactions such as the polymerization and hydrogenation of any olefins which may be present in the feedstream. The gaseous volume hourly space velocity (GVHSV) at standard conditions of temperature and pressure can suitably be from 1000 to 36,000 v/v/hr and is usually from 2000 to 10,000 v/v/hr. The product is removed from the arsenic removal unit 14 through line 16.

Light hydrocarbon gases such as ethane and propane are fed through line 118 into pyrolysis furnace for the purpose of cracking the ethane and propane to produce ethylene. After removal of liquid products (not shown) from pyrolysis furnace 20, the gaseous products are passed through line 22 where they are combined with the products in line 16 from the arsenic removal unit 14.

The combined gases in line 24 enter system 26 which consists of a number of units, not individually shown, for the purpose of drying and recovering various hydrocarbon fractions. A C fraction, for example, can be removed through line 28 and a C fraction through line 30. The stream of most present interest and of greatest volume is the C stream containing small amounts of acetylene, which stream is shown in the FIGURE as being removed from system 26 through line 32 and which passes into an acetylene converter 34. The acetylene content is produced in the pyrolysis furnace 20.

Hydrogen enters acetylene converter 34 by means of line 35.

Acetylene converter 34 may contain a catalyst which is sensitive to poisoning by even minute quantities of arsenic, and thus it is one of the main objectives of the present invention to protect the catalyst in the acetylene converter 34 from permanent deactivation by arsenic. Catalysts which are particularly susceptable to arsenic poisoning are those containing the noble metals such as platinum and palladium. Hydrogenation conditions are, of course, employed in acetylene converter 34, and such conditions arewell known to workers skilled in the art. The C stream, substantially free of acetylene, is then taken from acetylene converter 34 through line 36 to a distillation zone 38 where ethylene is removed through line 40 and heavier products may be suitably removed through line 42. The heavier products may be recycled as feed to pyrolysis furnace 20, if desired.

It should be noted here that'the arsenic removal unit 14 could have been positioned immediately before the acetylene converter 34 but such a location is not preferred for the reasons given above relating to the-possible formation of explosive copper acetylides and, as noted, the acetylene is formed in pyrolysis furnace 20 and not in the FCC unit 4. Similarly, the same benefits would accrue for any arsenic-susceptible catalysts used in the hydrogenation of the propadiene in the C stream from line 28.

PREPARATlON OF DlSPERSED SORBENT lowed by conversion of the cupric nitrate to copper oxide by calcining in the presence of air. The copper salt which is employed must be one which will decompose to the desired copper oxide form or which can be oxidized to the desired copper oxide form under conditions which will not seriously impair the desired surface area characteristics of the support. Other methods of depositing the copper oxide are described in US. Pat. Nos. 2,51 1,288 and 2,513,508, both to Morrell et al.

The sorbent is normally used in the oxidized form but, if desired, conversion of dispersed copper oxide sorbent to copper may be accomplished by heating the supported sorbent to to least 700F. in the presence of flowing hydrogen, as is well known in the art. The use of lower temperatures and/or short contact times with hydrogen would result in the production of mixtures of copper oxide and copper.

The amount of copper or copper oxide dispersed on the support is suitably from 1 to 30 weight percent and preferably from 10 to 20 weight percent, both the cop per and copper oxide being calculated as copper. When the sorbent is in the form of copper oxide, the copper is preferably present in its highest oxidation state, i.e. CuO.

Suitable high surface area supports are those well known in the art as catalyst supports. Examples of suitable supporting materials are the usual porous naturally occurring or synthetically prepared high surface area, i.e. over about 50 m /g, refractory metal oxides well known in the art as catalyst supports, e.g. alumina, silica, boria, thoria, magnesia or mixtures thereof. Preferably the supporting material is one of the partially de hydrated forms of alumina. More preferably, the alumina is one having a surface area in excess of 50 m /g, preferably a surface area of to 350 m /g. Suitable forms of the higher surface area aluminas and their methods of preparation are described in the Kirkothmer Encyclopedia of Chemical Technology, Second Edition, Volume 2, pages 41 et seq. Other suitable supports include clays, zeolites and crystalline silica aluminas.

EXAMPLE 1 The purpose of the example is to describe one preparation of a copper-containing material supported on a high surface area alumina. An aqueous solution of cupric nitrate trihydrate was prepared by adding 121 1.39 g. of Cu(NO '3H O (Mallinckrodt Analytical Reagent Grade) to distilled water to give a final volume of 1665 ml. The weight of this solution was 2364 g. and its specific gravity was 1.4198 g/cc. lt contained the equivalent of 16.86 weight percent CuO.

A one-step incipient wetness technique impregnation of the alumina was carried out by adding, with stirring, the Cu(NO '3H O solution to 2048 g.'of 1/16 inch extrudates of a suitable alumina which had previously been heated to 1000F. over a period of 6 hours and held at 1000F. for 10 hours. The incipient wetness absorptivity of the alumina was 0.8130 ml/g of alumina. The wet material was dried with occasional stirring for 12 hours at 250F. The dry material was then calcined by raising the temperature to 1000F. over a period of 6 hours and holding at 1000F. for 9 hours. The final composition of the material was approximately 13 weight percent Cu, present as copper oxide, the remainder being alumina. The compacted density was 7 8 0.730 g/cc and it had anitrogen BET surface area of Component yl g R V l a 2* a O 180.6 mflg and a nitrogen pore volume of 0.491 Carbon Mommde L6 3 3A Technlcal grade solutions may be employed ln the y gen 7.9 9 l2 fore-going procedure. The solutions are normally 2: I added at room temperature but elevated temperatures 5 y n 9. 8 9 ii may be utilized. The alumina used in this preparation 5:23; :2: had an initial nitrogen B.E.T. surface area of 282 m /g Propane 7.6 7 l5 Butenes 0.4 0 L0 and a nitrogen pore volume of 0.63 cc/g. [Somme U I 2.0

-B l. ARSENlC REMOVAL 10 f? C.s 0.2 o l Several runs were made under varying conditions to Tom low 7 illustrate. the present invention. The results of these A 4 0 b u 7 runs are presented in Examples 2-20 and Tables I and fi 'gg Sulfide gfz 6 a -li below. The procedures employed for all tests in Ex- Carbonyl Sulfide 3.4 ppm(wt) 0 5 ppm amples 2-20 were identical and were as follows: Gasei5 ous charge stocks were prepared by mixing a sufficient The diluent gases before the addition of arsine were amount of a blend of 2000 ppm AsH in nitrogen (suppassed through a water bubbler to saturate them with plied by Matheson Gas Co.) with one of the following water vapor at ambient temperature. diluent gases to obtain a charge stock having the desig- The reactor containing the supported sorbent connated ppm of tel-l es shown in the tables below sisted of a 58 inch l.D. stainless steel cylinder, with a 1% inch O.D. thermowell extending along its axis. The re- Diluent Gas No. l. actor was suitably heated. The temperature at the cen- A P hydroc'flrbon blend havlng the following P- ter of the supported sorbent material wasv measured by proximate analysis: means of an iron-constantan thermocouple inserted F into the thermowell. The test gas was introduced at the gf ggfl i Y bottom of the reactor, passing through an approxi- Ethane l2 mately 6-inch-long bed of quartz chips which served to preheat the gas stream. Methane Hydrogen 15 The sorbents were dispersed on various support ma- Nltwscn T H :3 30 terials in accordance with the procedures set forth in o Example 1 The bed of supported sorbent within the re- Diluem Gas No actor :vais a psprpglmatetly 4tto 2: lnchje: 1301628! anhd A commercially produced ethylene concentrate of Consls e O 0 ma ena mes in all cases, the weight percent of copper compared the following analysis.

with the total weight of support materlal and sorbent compomnl VOL q was l3 percent. s a e The arsine not removed by the passage through the y bed of su orted sorbent was scrubbed from'the efflu- Methane pp Ethylene 4- ent' gas stream by a pyridine solution contammg 0.50 g. 3:33a 3,3 40 silver diethyldithio-carbamate (Fisher Certified Rea- Propane 10.4 gent) per 100 ml. pyridine. This silver salt combines g if if v with the arsine to form a highly colored complex, perlsobutane 8.3 mitting colorimetric monitoring of the total arsine 04 f breakthrough accumulation. Small samples were peri- Pentenes 9.4 n d f h bb d h I l .lsupenme 9 0 ma y rawn rom t e arsine scru er an t e optlcu g transmittance at 540 mm. wavelength'was measured g 'fij :5 with a Bausch and Lomb Spectronic 1Q spectrophoj e tometer. This optical transmittance was then plotted as ::3 620V a function of time. The numerical derivative of this Arsine as ursgnic 0 67 curve was calculated to determine the rate of arsine 23 breakthrough. The percent breakthrough figures glven ppm (volume) 0.20 in the Tables below represent the percentage of the arsenic not removed in relation to the arsenic content of Diluent Gas No. 3. the charge stock. A commercial .FCC absorber gas of the following The results of a first series of runs in shown in Table W b ow; t TABLE II Conc. Cumula- AsHi in tlve as charge loading mp., Pressure, stoc stock Diluent (weight Sorbent Support F p.s.i.g. GVHSV (p.p.m.) gas 2 percent) Comment 7-A12O3 15 8,000 3 0.3 No breakthrough. 'lrzoz 80 15 3,000 40 No. 3 4.0 2% breakthrough. 'y-AlzOa 15 3,000 40 No.3 4.5 No breakthrough. 'y-AIKOH 150 15 3,000 200 No.3 5.0 Do. 'Y' zOa 150 15 7 3,000 200 No. 1 8. 1 15% breakthrough. 'y-Alzoa 150 15 3,000 40 No. 1 8.9 30% breakthrough.

REGENERATED SUPPORTED CuO FROM EXAMPLE 7 8 CuO 7-A1203 150 1 Diluent gas consisted of 50% propylene and 50% nitrogen.

1 Designated by No. from descrlptionabove.

3 5 HOURS IN AIR AT 500 F.

No breakthrough.

Table II, the runs for Examples 2-8 EXAMPLE 9 Example 4 was repeated except the GVHSV was increased to 9000 and the charge stock contained 50 ppm of AsH The arsenic loading (weight percent) on EXAMPLE l3 Example 12 was repeated except the temperature was 150F. The arsenic loading (weight percent) on the sorbent at 10 percent breakthrough was 1.1.

A series of runs was made to show the effect of sequential regenerations on the capacity of the sorbent for arsenic before breakthrough. The runs are summarized in Table Ill below. Referring to Table III, the capacity of the sorbent for arsenic loading before percent breakthrough was increased with successive regenerations, i.e. 2.2 to 3.3 to 5.2 to 6.4, despite the fact the arsenic loadings were cumulative. The increased sorbent capacity may be due to the successively increased regeneration temperatures employed, i.e.

15 the sorbent at 10 percent breakthrough was 4.2. 250917". to F. to70Qf' F i W TABLE III Cone. Arsenic loadln (weight .AsHa in percent? charge Temp., Pressure, stock Diluent 10% break- 20% break- Example Sorbent Support F. p.s.i.g. GVHSV (p.p.m.) gas 5 through through 14 CuO 7*Alz03 200 15 9,000 50 No.3 1.8 2.2

REGENERATED SUPPORTED CuO FROM EXAMPLE 14, 16 HOURS IN AIR AT 250 F.

15 CuO 11103 200 15 9,000 .50 No. 3 2.6 3.3

REGENERATED SUPPORTED CuO FROM EXAMPLE 15, 16 HOURS IN AIR AT 350 F.

16 C110 'y-Alzoa 200 15 9, 000 50 N0. 3 3 3. 7 5. 2

REGENERATED SUPPORTED C110 FROM EXAMPLE 16, 16 HOURS IN AIR AT 700 F.

17 C110 'y-AlzOa 200 15 9, 000 50 N0. 3 4 5. 2 6. 4

1 Charge contained 200 p.p.m. H 8. 2 No H18; total as loading 5.5% at 20% breakthrough. 3 N 0 H28; total as loading 10.7% at 20% breakthrough. 4 No HzS; total as loading 17.1% at 20% breakthrough. 5 Designatedlg N o. from description above.

EXAMPLE l0 EXAMPLE 18 7 through was 20 and at 20 percent breakthrough was 22.

EXAMPLE 1 l The copper oxide sorbent of Example I was reduced to copper by heating a sample to l000F. at a rate of about 100F. per minute in a flowing mixture of IO per cent hydrogen in nitrogen ml/min) followed by holding at I000F. for 3 hours in 100 percent hydrogen followed by cooling with a mixture of 100% H in nitrogen. The material by visual inspection appeared to be metallic copper from its reddish hue. The reduced sorbent was found to give a pattern for metallic copper by X-ray diffraction. Example 9 was repeated except using the reduced copper sorbent and the charge stock was prepared using Diluent Gas No. 2. The arsenic loading (weight percent) on the sorbent at 10 percent breakthrough was 3.7, and at 33 percent breakthrough was 4.2.

Example ll shows that copper in the zero valent form is an active sorbent.

EXAMPLE 12 Example 9 was repeated except the charge stock was prepared from Diluent Gas No. l; the charge stock contained 200 ppm of H 8; and the temperature was F. The arsenic loading (weight percent) on the sorbent at l0 percent breakthrough was 4.5 and at 33 pere brea th h! V l nlhelun forth is example, the copper oxide sorbent of Example 1 was pre-reduced in a stream of 10% H 20% N for seven hours at 500F. Gravimetric analysis indicated approximately 50 percent of the oxygen associated with the CuO had been reduced. This partially reduced sorbent was run the same as in Example 14 above except there was no H 8 in the charge stock and the temperature was F. The arsenic loading (weight percent) at 10 percent breakthrough was 4.5.

EXAMPLE 19 Example 9 was repeated except the support was a very low surface area alpha-alumina. The arsenic loading (weight percent) was less than 0.1 at 3.3 percent breakthrough showing the use of low surface area supports gives poor results.

EXAMPLE 20 Example 9 was repeated except the support was a silica gel having a surface area of about 350 m /g. The arsenic loading (weight percent) was 0.1 at 10 percent breakthrough and 0.4 at 33 percent breakthrough.

OXYGEN UPTAKE in the article Separate Determination of the Surface of Complex Catalysts by Chromatographic Methods, 1. Nickel on Carriers by N. E. Buyanova et al., appearing first in Kinetika i Kataliz, Vol. 8, NO. 4, pp. 868-877, July-August, l967 and translated into English and appearing in Kinetics and Catalysis, 8, 787, (1967). The oxygen uptake values for each sample are reported below in Table IV, expressed in terms of oxygen uptake at 77F. in units of ml. S.T.P. of oxygen per gram of copper in the sample.

TABLE IV Nominal Copper in Sample Oxygen Uptake (Weight (ml. 02/8. Cu) Example No. SorbcntSupport Percent) 19 7 CuO M l3 0.27 20 CuO SiO 2:2 2-l(); l2-l8 Al,O l] 54 It can be seen that the oxygen uptake value should be at least 5. Preferably, the sorbent is better dispersedto give an oxygen uptake value of at least 20, more preferably at least 40. The theoretical upper limit for a monolayer of copper is 176.

Another series of runs was made wherein a slipstream of a commerical FCC absorber gas without the addition of added amounts of Asl-l was passed through a l" in diameter by 4-foot-long bed of a copper oxide sorbent prepared as, described in Example 1. The commerical FCC absorber gas had a composition within the range as shown above for Diluent Gas No. 3. Again, there were no added amounts of AsH The results are presented in the Examples given below.

Example 21 ln the run for this Example, the bed was operated at 100F. and a pressure of about 260-280 psig for the first 350 hours, and the temperature was then increased to 200F. and the run continued for a total elapsed time of 1000 hours. The GVHSV was 9000 for the first 350 hours and then 4500 for the remainder of the run. The cumulative arsenic loading (weight percent) on the sorbent was 0.9. The run was terminated without any breakthrough. 4

EXAMPLE 22 In the run for this Example, .the bed was operated at 100F. and 260-280 psig and a GVHSV of 4500 for 300 hours and then at 150F and a 3000 GVHSV for a total time of 4000 hours. The cumulative arsenic loading was 2.0+ weight percent. No breakthrough of arsenic was noted.

EXAMPLE 23 Resort may be had to such variations and modificamaterial. said sorbent comprising copper or an oxide of copper and having an oxygen uptake value of at least 5.

2. A process as recited inclaim -1 wherein said supporting material is'a'refractory metal oxide having a surface area of greater than 50 m lg.

3. A process as recited in claim 2 wherein said hydrocarbons in said feedstream have from one to five carbon atoms per molecule. v I

4. A process as recited in claim 3 wherein said hydrocarbon feedstream includes olefins and water vapor and is substantially free of acetylenes.

5. A process as recited in claim 4 wherein said contacting takes place at a temperature in the range of 50F. to 400F. I

6. A process for reducing the arsenic content of a gaseous hydrocarbon feedstream having greater than 20 ppb'of arsenic to produce a product having less than 10 ppb of arsenic which comprises contacting'said feedstream with a sorbent dispersed on a refractory metal oxide having a surface area of greater than 50 m lg, said sorbent consisting essentially of copper or an oxide of copper and having an oxygen uptake value of at least 20. 7. A process as recited in claim 6 wherein said hydrocarbons in said feedstream have from one to five carbon atoms per molecule. 7 V g 8. A process as recited in claim 7 wherein said con- Etacting takes place at a temperature in the range of F. to 250F.

9. A process in accordance with claim 1 wherein said sorbent consists of copper having an oxygen uptake value of at least 40.

'10. A process as recited in claim 9 wherein said supporting material is an alumina having a surface area of greater than 50 m /g.

11. A process as recited in claim 10 wherein said hydrocarbons in said feedstream have from one to five carbon atoms per molecule.

12. A process in accordance with claim 1 wherein said sorbent consists of an oxide ofv copper having an v 14. process as recited in claim 13 wherein said hydrocarbons in said feedstream have from one to five carbon atoms per molecule.

15. A process for reducing the arsenic content of a gaseous hydrocarbon feedstream containing arsenic in amounts in excess of 20 ppb and being substantially free of acetylenesto produce a product having less than 10 ppb of arsenic, which process comprises contacting said feedstream with a sorbent dispersed on a supporting material, said sorbent consisting of copper or an oxide of copper and having an oxygen uptake value of t... as.t 2

17. A process as recited in claim 16 wherein said supporting material is an alumina having a surface area of greater than 50 m /g. 

2. A process as recited in claim 1 wherein said supporting material is a refractory metal oxide having a surface area of greater than 50 m2/g.
 3. A process as recited in claim 2 wherein said hydrocarbons in said feedstream have from one to five carbon atoms per molecule.
 4. A process as recited in claim 3 wherein said hydrocarbon feedstream includes olefins and water vapor and is substantially free of acetylenes.
 5. A process as recited in claim 4 wherein said contacting takes place at a temperature in the range of 50*F. to 400*F.
 6. A process for reducing the arsenic content of a gaseous hydrocarbon feedstream having greater than 20 ppb of arsenic to produce a product having less than 10 ppb of arsenic which comprises contacting said feedstream with a sorbent dispersed on a refractory metal oxide having a surface area of greater than 50 m2/g, said sorbent consisting essentially of copper or an oxide of copper and having an oxygen uptake value of at least
 20. 7. A process as recited in claim 6 wherein said hydrocarbons in said feedstream have from one to five carbon atoms per molecule.
 8. A process as recited in claim 7 wherein said contacting takes place at a temperature in the range of 80*F. to 250*F.
 9. A process in accordance with claim 1 wherein said sorbent consists of copper having an oxygen uptake value of at least
 40. 10. A process as recited in claim 9 wherein said supporting material is an alumina having a surface area of greater than 50 m2/g.
 11. A process as recited in claim 10 wherein said hydrocarbons in said feedstream have from one to five carbon atoms per molecule.
 12. A process in accordance with claim 1 wherein said sorbent consists of an oxide of copper having an oxygen uptake value of at least
 40. 13. A process as recited in claim 12 wherein said supporting material is an alumina having a surface area of greater than 50 m2/g.
 14. A process as recited in claim 13 wherein said hydrocarbons in said feedstream have from one to five carbon atoms per molecule.
 15. A process for reducing the arsenic content of a gaseous hydrocarbon feedstream containing arsenic in amounts in excess of 20 ppb and being substantially free of acetylenes to produce a product having less than 10 ppb of arsenic, which process comprises contacting said feedstream with a sorbent dispersed on a supporting material, said sorbent consisting of copper or an oxide of copper and having an oxygen uptake value of at least
 20. 16 A process as recited in claim 15 wherein said hydrocarbon feedstream includes olefins and water vapor.
 17. A process as recited in claim 16 wherein said supporting material is an alumina having a surface area of greater than 50 m2/g. 